


Truths Revealed

by MikaielaFranqui



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-02 00:04:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19187917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikaielaFranqui/pseuds/MikaielaFranqui
Summary: The war has ended. Several students return for an eighth year at Hogwarts. However something more surprising than any of the previous seven years awaits them this time in the Castle of Magic.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have changed up a lot of things but this is still mostly canon.
> 
> DO NOT LEAVE ANY COMMENTS ON HOW IT DOES NOT FOLLOW THE BOOKS. THIS FIC IS A SPIN-OFF FROM THE BOOKS AND IS NOT SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW THE BOOKS 
> 
> (but generally, it will)
> 
> This book is also there on Wattpad under my account KhaulaMujahid, where I will not be continuing it. This is an updated version of the same story.

It had been two months since the Third Wizarding War had ended, and once again, it was September 1st, the beginning of a new school year at Hogwarts. Given the incidents that had hindered several students from attending school the previous year, the Ministry of Magic had allowed the students to return to an extra year of schooling so that they could catch up with their studies. This resulted in an additional eighth year being formed temporarily for those who had never gotten to finish their seventh year, or had not turned up for safety reasons. King's Cross was more crowded than it had ever been before, with the unusual influx of students to the more senior years.

 

"Harry! HARRY!" Harry Potter grinned on spotting his two closest friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, waiting for him by the ticket counter. He pushed his trolley a little faster, making his new red screech owl, Fyre, puff up disapprovingly, raising a royal fiery crown of feathers. 

 

"Dear Merlin, Harry, he's sweet!" Hermione laughed, on seeing her friend's new pet. "I can understand why you named him Fyre, he almost looks like a phoenix. We've been waiting for you for ages. Did you know that there's going to be a complete resorting? I only heard today from Professor McGonagall."

 

"Oh no, I do not fancy having to scream at that Hat again," Harry groaned, then laughed. "Maybe we should persuade the Hat to put us in the three other Houses, and then just meet up in the Gryffindor common room anyway." Ron laughed as well, and they highfived each other, while Hermione tried to purse her lips in disapproval.

 

Despite the light atmosphere and lack of tension as they boarded the train, heading for the same compartment that they normally shared with Luna, Ginny and Neville, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Usually, this kind of feeling disappeared once they reached their compartment, but in this case, he felt it intensifying. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but after the last seven years, he had learnt to be wary, if nothing else, and the sleepless nights he had spent raiding the Black and Potter libraries had done nothing to lower his guard. If anything, he had learnt to be more on his guard of such instinctive feelings than he had ever been before.

 

"Hermione," he said, knowing that it was best to alert them, since he just couldn't shake the feeling. "Aren't you supposed to be with the Prefects or something?" 

 

"Well, yeah," she replied, studying his face and realizing that something was wrong. "Can you come with me? I always run into Lee, and I'm late as it is anyway, so if fate runs its usual course, then maybe you could distract him." Harry nodded, a little too enthusiastically, and they both stepped out of the compartment together.

 

"What's wrong, Harry? You know that Professor McGonagall clearly stated that the Prefects, Head Boy, Head Girl and Quidditch Captains would be announced only after the Sorting," Hermione said quietly, glancing around nervously to make sure they were alone.

 

"I know, I need to tell you, I can feel someone watching us," Harry replied, in an equally hushed tone. "I didn't think Ron would get it, but we have to keep an eye out. Something is seriously weird. I've been feeling it ever since I stepped onto the platform, but I was fine even when we were at the station, before we got on to 9 3/4."

 

"Okay." They stepped back in, with Hermione muttering how she forgot that the Prefects hadn't been selected yet, and Harry glancing around warily once again.

 

"Okay, that's it," Ginny said, after a tense moment of silence in the compartment following Hermione's declaration. "Who else feels like there's someone else we can't see in here?"

 

Harry raised his hand, and much to his surprise, so did Hermione and Luna. Ginny frowned. Ron and Neville looked at each other, then turned to the others with nonplussed, what's-going-on-here expressions. Hermione and Harry moved as one, drawing their wands, but not entirely sure about what to do with them either. Ron, however, caught on to what they were thinking unexpectedly fast. He took both Ginny and Luna by their elbows and dragged them out of the compartment. As Neville hurriedly scrambled to his feet and followed them, Harry and Hermione stepped back to the compartment doorway together. No one could possibly have left the compartment except their friends.

 

" _Homenum revelio_ ," they chanted together. There were several bangs, but nothing appeared, though they heard muffled groans and curses following the spell.

 

"Who's there?" Hermione asked, her voice slightly shaky, but she was more than pleased that her spell had worked. Harry rolled his eyes. 

 

"I don't think they want us to know," Ron said weakly, from behind them. "They're probably under Disillusionment Charms or something, but whatever it is, it's pretty solid."

 

Harry and Hermione only exchanged a knowing look, not bothering to reassure Ron. " _Finite_!" 

 

This time there was a loud, prolonged rustling, as though someone had let a wild gale rush through the compartment, but still, no one came into sight. Hermione was starting to get annoyed, and Harry was getting frustrated. The others could feel the accidental magic build up between the two friends, and took a few precautionary steps back.

 

"Not a Disillusionment Charm," Hermione grumbled, more to herself than anyone else, but she was looking expectantly at Harry.

 

"Don't look at me like that," he said, equally disappointed. "It didn't have to be a Disillusionment Charm, and in most cases, even if it wasn't one,  _Finite_ should have worked."

 

"But it didn't."

 

"I noticed."

 

"Will you two cut it out?" Ron groaned. "If you don't want to sit there, we can just go find another compartment. Might as well as look for Ferret-face and send him here. He's stupid enough to annoy anyone and everyone around him, so we'll probably find out whoever is playing hooky by the time we reach the castle."

 

An idea seemed to have struck Hermione at that very moment, because she turned to Harry, completely ignoring Ron, with a queer glint in her eyes. "The Quibbler." 

 

"The what now?" Harry looked confused. "Wait, Luna, aren't you running the Quibbler now? What about it?"

 

"Yes, but have _you_ been reading it, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking him dead in the eye.

 

"Not regularly, no," Harry admitted sheepishly. "And before you ask, no, I haven't been keeping up with the _Prophet_ , either. Actually, I got caught up in a few books over the break, so I haven't been keeping up at all. So yeah, what's going on?"

 

"You think it's the Returns?" Ron asked, realization dawning on him as he caught on to what Hermione was suggesting, and she nodded solemnly.

 

"The what now?" Harry parroted, completely lost.

 

"The Returns, honestly, Harry!" Hermione groaned, and Harry had the decency to look slightly abashed as she backed him into a seat and conjured a handful of newspapers onto his lap. "You realize that the souls of the people who die are transported to a parallel universe, right? However, the universes aren't stationary, so every thousand years, there happens an alignment, which results in souls whose magic correspond to the wavelengths emitted by the friction between these two universes to be transported back here. In short, resurrecting the dead. Don't pull that face at me! I verified the authenticity of this phenomenon with both Professor Binns and Professor McGonagall. For once, probably since Kingsley is Minister, the _Daily Prophet_ hasn't been printing complete garbage either. They've been issuing regular updates of the people who have Returned." 

 

"And the reason you think it could be a case of Returns is because?" Harry questioned. He could see that Hermione was still clearly thinking on that one.

 

"Well, if it were a group of well, strong witches and wizards, it would probably be easy to maintain the charms, even if they lost their balance, which is pretty evident, given the ruckus they were making," she said slowly. "It also means that they probably have rather weak Silencing Charms in place, because if they make those too strong, it would diminish what they could hear, so they are very keen on hearing what was happening here as well. Which means, all it would take is to do something unexpected."

 

"You mean, do something that would make them all scream, and not just wince," Ron said, grinning evilly at the thought. "Hey, Harry, how about you show it to us now then?"

 

"Show w- oh." Harry smirked right back, knowing exactly what he was talking about, and drew his wand. " _Expecto patronum_!" 

 

There were several gasps of admiration and astonishment as a large, beautiful silver panther bounded out of the wand and pranced around the compartment. Ginny giggled, and reached out to pet it, but just as Harry yelled "Don't!" she made contact, and it turned into a phoenix, making all hell break loose.

 

"What the hell?!" "What was that?!" "It CHANGED FORM!" "No way!" "Awesome!" "Wicked!" "How did you do that?!" 

 

"It actually does change form," Hermione grinned at him. "You weren't kidding about actually being able to do it - the other ting you told me about?" 

 

"What I didn't expect was for the Patronus to change like that," Harry replied. "As for the other thing, yeah, that's pretty much established. I mean, never mind, just watch."

 

Harry tossed her his wand and stood up, taking a few steps away from them. Then, suddenly, he shimmered, and a large black, green-eyed panther took his place. Hermione laughed, and just as Luna moved forward to crouch down, he leaped up at her, making her squeal, then scream as the panther turned into a phoenix. Ron smirked as Neville's jaw hit the ground. There were several screams erupting around them, voices mixing with each other, making them impossible to distinguish. And then, Harry touched down, but this time, he had a very specific intention, and landed as a full-grown stag, and that seemed to achieve exactly what he had been aiming to do.

 

"How the bloody hell are you able to do that?!" Sirius' shocked tone of voice, followed by the man himself, however, were the least of his worries. His antlers had gotten caught in the overhead light as he had transformed, and he had no idea how to get free of them. Hermione sprang to help, but just then, he transformed back, rubbing his head.

 

"Ouch, that hurt," he said, still wincing as he took Ron's hand and pulled himself up, turning to grin at Sirius. "Couldn't you have just caught up with us at the station, Snuffles?"

 

"Shut up, you," Sirius snapped playfully, pulling his godson into a bone-crushing hug. "You little brat, I turn my back on you for two seconds-" "You mean two years!" "-and you come with up stupid thing to do! How in bloody Merlin did you do that?" Sirius finished, ignoring Harry's accusing jibe in the middle of his rant.

 

"I just did," Harry said simply. "I was bored, and ended up reading up on Animagi. Minerva knew that I was trying to do it, and she'd keep a tab on me occasionally, to make sure nothing went wrong. The thing was, one day I didn't end up turning into a panther, and it became a stag instead. And when I tried to turn back, it turned into a phoenix, and it took the entire day for me to finally get back to being a human. I think I was a hundred and fifty different things before that, though."

 

"Including a garden snake-"

"That cute white tabby-"

"A boa constrictor-"

"Turning into a freaking Thestral-"

"And then a Hippogriff-"

 

"It's a mercy you didn't actually bring the place down," Hermione smirked as Harry flushed scarlet at Ginny and Ron's recounts. "But it was the Pegasus that really got me."

 

"You turn into that otter yet, Mione?" Harry asked, and she instantly pouted, a clear indication that she hadn't.

 

"I didn't have the kind of time or space that you did!" she protested. "Plus, it's really, really difficult to think about absolutely nothing. I don't know how you managed it!"

 

"Thestral felt awesome though," Harry said wistfully. "But then you all looked like you'd wet yourselves if I didn't try and turn back-"

 

"So you turned into a Hippogriff!" Ron interjected, grinning evilly at him. "Damn near trampled me. After all that whinnying, I thought you'd go back to being human!"

 

"I told you, it was just a messed up day," Harry laughed. "Your fault for insisting that I show you how far I got the very first day you were allowed to come over."

 

"Without supervision, you mean," Ron scoffed. "We went there practically every other day, or Mum would end up having kittens about how you were holing up all alone."

 

"Still your fault." Harry flopped back down on the seat, and all the others clambered into seats as well. "So who else is back, minus you and Padfoot?"

 

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Sirius said, with an uncharacteristically long face. "I still haven't forgiven you for tricking me into dropping the charms."

 

"Your fault for lowering your guard, Snuff." Harry ducked as Sirius swatted at him, blushing at the use of his undercover name, making Luna and Ginny dissolve into giggles.

 

Sirius found himself with no choice but to keep the six lighthearted teenagers company until they reached Hogwarts, which he didn't really mind. He was more than glad to be reunited with his godson, and both Ron and Hermione had become pretty close to him as well. He knew that the other three had followed Harry blindly to the Ministry the day he had died, and he was eternally grateful that despite not knowing the whole truth about his identity, they had still stood by Harry during the tough times.


	2. Chapter 2

The Hogwarts Express pulled up in the Hogwarts station with an earsplitting screech, before grinding to a complete halt. Sirius stood up to leave, then noticed that no one else had gotten up. Neville had fallen asleep, his head resting lightly against the window, while Harry was playing chess with Hermione, with Ron helping out on both sides, and Ginny and Luna were immersed in a very serious discussion about what concentration of Nargles in an area should be considered alarming.

 

"Aren't you getting off?" Sirius asked with a laugh, as he ruffled up Harry's hair for umpteenth time that day.

 

"Er- not yet. It's too crowded," Harry replied, with a quick glance at the window, and then he looked up at Sirius. "You can go on ahead, I'll see you later."

 

Something in his tone made Sirius feel incredibly guilty. When they had first started getting to know each other, Harry was overly enthusiastic to spend even the most meager amount of time with him, but now, he could feel the difference, it was almost physical. There was no bounding in for a hug, only an occasional, polite request for his opinion, and now, he was being quite frankly dismissed. Something had changed in Harry after he had died, and he could almost taste it, it was so evident, but he didn't know what, exactly. Nevertheless, the last thing he wanted was to appear completely stupid in front of a group of teenagers, so he just smiled at them, winked at Harry, and left.

 

Even as he walked towards the carriages, he was lost in thought. Remus, James and Lily caught up with him in the carriage, and they immediately sensed something wrong with him. This wasn't the Sirius they had seen in the compartment, laughing and joking as though he were one with the teenagers, and it set all of them on edge at once.

 

"Sirius, what's wrong?" Remus asked finally, and Sirius looked up, realizing that none of them could have possibly realized how far Harry had distanced himself from them.

 

"I don't know," Sirius admitted quietly. "Harry's different, he's not the way he used to be before. I'm not talking about the war. I think something is really wrong."

 

"Wrong?" James echoed, worry and fear creeping onto his face, as his arm tightened around Lily. "What do you mean by 'wrong', Padfoot, that's way too vague a term."

 

"I don't know exactly how to say it, Prongs," Sirius sighed, leaning back. "All I could think is, is this really the same kid I left back here two years ago cause it doesn't feel so."

 

"Well, we'll be seeing him in classes soon enough, we should be able to figure it out," Remus said soothingly, but there was no denying that even he was worried.

 

"Speaking of which, where is Tonks?" Sirius asked, remembering belatedly that Remus had gotten married to his cousin and that they had gotten a child as well.

 

"She's staying with her mother, looking after Teddy," Remus said, his voice warm at the memory of his son. "He'll be turning one soon, and he's a right menace at times."

 

"Tell me about it," James grinned. "Siri, we should get the kid a broom. And a couple of other completely mandatory accessories to go along with it."

 

"Dear Merlin," Lily groaned, turning to Remus. "If they get him a broom, Rem, you'll lose your sanity, I assure you of it. It happened to me when Siri got Harry that broom."

 

"Hey, Prongs approved of that!" Sirius protested. "And in any case, I have been reliably informed that you tasked Prongs with looking after him when he was on it!" 

 

"It's fine," Remus laughed. "Now that they're around, he'll end up being as much their kid as mine, it's going to be a waste of time even trying to hold them off of him."

 

Unknown to them, Harry had been following them, in the guise of a raven, hanging onto every word. He couldn't help the pang of jealousy that tore through him at Remus' words. Deciding the better of following them into the castle as a bird and getting caught, he turned round and flew back to the carriage where Ginny, Ron and Hermione were waiting for him, and transformed back in the trees. Together, the two trios trudged into the Entrance Hall, where they waited along with the other eighth and first years for the sorting.

 

"HARRY!" They all turned around to find Fred and George fighting their way over, followed by an over-enthusiastic Lee Jordan. "Where were you all break, mate, you should have dropped in! Anyway, we've set up shop in Hogsmeade, so make sure you come to collect anything you need, it's on the house. We want your opinion on the premises, too. That, and make sure you don't get these caught. Figured you were busy, so we smuggled you some. Okay, that's it for now, see you around." The twins pressed a small oilskin pouch into Harry's hand, which Harry quickly tucked into his jeans pockets under his robes, earning a whistle from Ron and an exasperated noise from Hermione.

 

"You didn't tell me that Fred had returned!" Harry hissed at Ron as someone quite deliberately banged into him, turning around to face the offender.

 

"Hello, Harry."

 

"Myrtle," Harry sighed, then grinned as he stuck out a hand to the former ghost. "Nice to meet you too, in the flesh. Can't pass through me anymore, can you?"

 

"No," she agreed with a nostalgic laugh as she shook Harry's hand. "I was actually trying to just now, and crashed right into you instead. I used to love doing that." 

 

"Thank Merlin," Harry laughed. For a moment, he forgot about the conversation he had overheard on the way to Hogwarts. "Which House were you in before, by the way?"

 

"Ravenclaw," she replied. "Oh, don't bother telling me. Everyone knows that you're a Gryffindor, Harry. I'll see you around sometime?"

 

"Sure." Harry turned around to find Hermione smirking at him when Myrtle had left. "What's gotten into you? You almost look like a Slytherin, Hermione."

 

"You sure you don't fancy her?" Hermione giggled quietly. "That's the first time you've talked properly to a girl ever since you and Ginny broke it up over a year ago."

 

"What are you talking about?" Harry scoffed. "I talk normally enough to you when you aren't trying to rival Crabbe and Goyle at being an airhead, you know. You're a girl."

 

"Good job noticing that," Hermione laughed. "I mean, it could have been worse, right? Considering how long it took some people to notice that oh, I'm a girl too?"

 

"Not funny, Mione," Ron protested. "You just always came off as someone who was with  _us_ , why you would go and accept Krum's offer to dance is still beyond me..."

 

"Attention everyone!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Welcome to Hogwarts, or for our older students, welcome back to Hogwarts!" McGonagall said busily, as she swept into the Entrance Hall, followed by the four House ghosts: Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, the Fat Friar, the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady. "We will be having the Sorting for our new students shortly, followed by a Resorting for all the older students as well. As you must be aware, there have been several Returns over the past two months. All Returned students who wish to continue their studies will be most welcome to do so, after they go through the Resorting along with their respective year. All students who did not get to complete their NEWTS last year will be studying in the eighth year, as the majority of the junior years were luckily able to complete their education. After all the students are sorted, the Professors will also go through the Sorting and once Sorted, Professors of the each House will be allowed to deliberate and choose a single Head of House, and if they wish, a Deputy Head of House. Here on out, it will be mandatory for all students attending Hogwarts to take all electives, without exception. There will be negotiation about this rule. Your timetables will be adjusted accordingly."

There was a still silence following her speech, and she was secretly glad that she had managed to have such an impact. Unlike previous years, where she was sure that there would be one or the other protest from someone, it was clear that the recent war had them all thinking twice about any measure before reacting to it. She was obviously upset that they had to go through such a tough time at such a tender age, before even completing their education, but she wasn't complaining about the benefits it had brought.

"Well, whenever you're ready," she said to the ghosts, before sweeping away into the completely empty Great Hall.

"Come along, first-years first!" the Fat Friar called out jovially. "Nothing to worry about, just wearing the old Sorting Hat and you'll know your House. Come on now."

Harry watched on with trepidation as the first-years fell into a line and filed out of the Great Hall, more or less silently. The fear he had felt in his first year was coming back with an almighty crash, and he turned to his best friends. He hadn't ever told them that the Sorting Hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin, that he had only ended up in Gryffindor because he had been fighting the Hat tooth and nail. Realizing that just about everyone else was preoccupied with their own thoughts, Harry tugged Hermione, Ron and Ginny away from the others. Unbeknownst to him, behind the Great Hall, using a Mist Sphere they had borrowed from Firenze, James, Remus, Sirius and Lily were watching them closely.

"Why do we have to go through that again?" Hermione groaned. "The Hat took forever trying to decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw - it even said Hufflepuff at one point, and I nearly tore it off then - and now we have to go through all of that all over again? What's wrong with being in Gryffindor when we've been there for six years already?"

"I have something to tell you two," Harry said quietly. "The Hat took forever Sorting me, remember?" When they both nodded, with a frown beginning to form on Hermione's face and worry flitting over Ron's, he continued. "It's because the Hat thought I would do well in Slytherin. And after the entire scene with Malfoy on the train, that was quite honestly the last place I wanted to be. But you know, after the war and everything, I was thinking, what if it wasn't because it thought I was in Slytherin? It could have been-"

"Because of the Horcrux, and that was pure evil, and already belonged to Slytherin," Hermione finished for him. "The Hat wasn't able to differentiate between two souls in the same body. So this time, it'll tell you what it thinks of you, with no one else to be messing up its decision, right? In any case, if you could convince the Hat to put you in Gryffindor then, I have no doubt that you can do it again. That really puts me at ease, too. It's definitely going to help if the Hat will take what we want to do into consideration."

"Second-years, follow me!" They all looked around to see ash-faced second years following an overly enthusiastic Sir Nicholas out of the Entrance Hall.

"At this rate, we might as well go say hi to Hagrid and Grawp before they get to us," Ron groaned. "The tension in here is thicker than Hagrid's treacle tarts."

"Good idea!" Ginny grinned. "Let's go, what are we waiting for?"

"Wait, Gin, that may not be the best idea," Harry said quickly, catching her by the arm. "How do you plan on getting out?"

"Disillusionment Charm," Hermione answered smoothly. "Not all of us can turn into a stag at will, Harry."

"Like I'd actually do that right now." Harry scoffed as he cast a quick glance around and transformed. It was Hermione's gasp of surprise that made him realize that he hadn't transformed into what had intended to. In any case, whatever it was, it had wings, and it didn't feel big, like a Thestral or a Hippogriff. 

Hermione, Ron and Ginny quickly cast their Disillusionment Charms and sprinted quickly out of the Entrance Hall before anyone could tell what had happened. Luna saw them go, and efficiently covered up any suspicions by pointing out some non-existent Nargles manifesting themselves over the ceiling. Harry came to a perch on the tree just above Hagrid's hut, where he waited for Hermione and Ginny to come sprinting down, throwing off their Charms, panting from the sudden exercise and autumn chill.

"Harry- Harry, what _is_ that?" Hermione panted, staring at him in a mixture of admiration and confusion.

Harry raised a wing and found it to be a glittery silver. He couldn't think of a single bird that had wings like that, though, and Hermione, having finally caught her breath, helped him out by raising her wand, pointing it directly at him, and muttering, " _Amirare_!" A mirror formed in front of Harry, making him almost fall off the branch in surprise. A large, silver bird that looked exactly like Fawkes stared out at him, large emerald eyes wide with the same shock that he knew would be evident in his own eyes.

He transformed back, landing on his feet in front of the three waiting for him, looking up to meet their expectant expressions with a sigh. "I don't know what that was, alright. I was thinking about a raven - I don't know where that even came from - but it looks like it could be a silver phoenix. I know the tail and crown are a bit extreme, compared to Fawkes, but it still looks more like a phoenix than anything else. Still, I'd like to know where it came from, I don't remember having ever seen that before."

"Let's ask Hagrid," Hermione said, stuffing away her wand, as Ginny went and rapped sharply on the hut door.

"Ginny! Harry, Ron, Hermione, too!" Hagrid's beaming face popped out of the door. "Come in, come in, all of ye." He threw the door wide open and trudged back in.

"Hagrid," Ron began anxiously. "Hagrid, you wouldn't happen to know if phoenixes came in different colors, would you?"

"'Course they do!" Hagrid snorted, waving them all into seats around the table. "Extremely rare, though, aren't they? Barely get to see a normal red one. But there 'ave been say, other colors. Saw a blue 'un take off while I was goin' to the giants two, three years back, see? An' a gold one with Olympe, when 'e had to detour through French territory. But they say there's one more powerful than any other - an' it's never been seen to sight. Ye see a silver phoenix, ye turn an' ne'er look again, ye hear me? 'Cause that ain't nothing to be looking at. Awfully proud creatures, make Hippogriffs look like down-to-earth Nifflers, ye see. Ne'er heard of one swearing loyalty to a human, too proud ta do that."

"Oh." Harry felt something sink to the bottom of his stomach. "Thanks, Hagrid."

"Why'd ye ask, all o' a sudden, mm?" Hagrid asked amiably, taking a large gulp from his mug of tea. 

"Oh, that," Hermione said, eyes flitting between Ron and Harry as she tried to figure out what to say. "Well, we saw Fawkes on our way here, and I just wondered if there were only red phoenixes around, because we've only ever seen Fawkes. It'd be a shame if there really only existed one color of phoenixes, don't you think?"

"Ye want to keep away from the silver ones, though," Hagrid said warningly, and his tone said that he was completely serious. "Now listen up close, ye all. All the Founders are known to have their own symbol, an' their own Familiar, but they also all chose a second Familiar, common to 'em all, an'- an' it was the phoenix. Now it don't take a genius to figure that Gryffindor chose a Flame phoenix - the red - Ravenclaw chose a Snow phoenix - the blue - Hufflepuff chose an Earth phoenix - the gold - and Slytherin chose the Gale phoenix - the silver. There's only e'er one phoenix, like I said, that didn't swear loyalty to a man, and true enough, on the Inaugural Day, the Gale phoenix left Slytherin's quarters and ne'er returned. Quite Slytherin-like, obviously, but see, ye ne'er trust that bird. It's more powerful than any other bird out there, and it cares for no one and no thing."

"Shoot." Harry deliberately glanced down at his watch. "Sorry, Hagrid, we're going to get late for the entire Resorting process." He made sure to roll his eyes as he said it.

"Twill be fine, 'arry," Hagrid said soothingly. "There's no way ye won't be in Gryffindor. Trust me." He winked, making Harry laugh, though it was strained.

The moment they left the hut and Hermione had shut the door behind them, before anyone could say anything, Harry had transformed smoothly into a large Thestral and soared up into the moonless sky, making the others sigh in frustration. However, they were running late, so they just cast the charms once again and raced back to the castle.

"It was supposed to _lighten_ the mood," Ginny hissed, as they entered the Entrance Hall and removed the charms. "Going to Hagrid's was supposed to _lighten_ the mood."

"I know," Hermione sighed, as she glanced around nervously. "Where's Harry?" She really hoped that he hadn't done something stupid and taken off.

"I'm here." Harry stepped into the Entrance Hall, looking a lot less put out than he felt. "Anyone know which year they called in for Sorting last?"

Right on cue, the Grey Lady floated back in through the wall, looking pointedly at them as she announced, "Eighth-years, please follow me, and do stop talking."

"Miss Ravenclaw," Harry muttered, as she took to floating beside him, earning him a calculating look from the deceased heiress.

"I'm glad I trusted you with the location of my mother's diadem," she replied, her tone trilling softly. "You did the right thing, destroying it."

"Thanks." Harry didn't know what else he could say; they were entering the Great Hall now, and there were heads turning everywhere, craning for a better look.

"Tolipan, Alice!"

 "Gryffindor!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Abbott, Hannah!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

"Slytherin!"

"Kipper, Amanda!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Dunbar, Fay!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Bones, Susan!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Crabbe, Vincent!"

"Slytherin!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Finnegan, Seamus!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Davis, Tracey!" 

"Slytherin!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Hopkins, Wayne!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Goyle, Gregory!"

"Slytherin!"

"Corner, Michael!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Haskell, Kellah!" 

"Gryffindor!"

"Jones, Megan!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

"Slytherin!"

"Goldstein, Anthony!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Longbottom, Neville!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Decca, Leanne!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Malfoy, Draco!"

"Slytherin!"

"Li, Sue!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Patil, Parvati!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Macmillan, Ernest!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Nott, Theodore!"

"Slytherin!"

"Patil, Padma!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Thomas, Dean!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Parkinson, Pansy!"

"Slytherin!"

"Turpin, Lisa!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Weasley, Ronald!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Zabini, Blaise!"

"Slytherin!"

"Weasley, Ginerva!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Payne, Morag!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Lovegood, Luna!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Harper, Roy!"

"Slytherin!"

"Creevey, Colin!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Weasley, George!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Weasley, Frederick!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Warren, Myrtle!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Diggory, Cedric!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Potter, Harry!"

Finally, Harry thought, as he walked towards the wretched Hat, more than just a little conscious of the goodness knew how many eyes that were following him. Hermione's eyes seemed to be drilling a hole into him, though, it was almost a miracle that he couldn't feel his robes singeing under the intensity of her gaze.

"Gryffindor!"

No sooner had he jammed the offending item onto his head than it roared its choice for the world to hear, snickering softly in Harry's head all the while. Harry was too relieved to care, though, and tossed it back triumphantly onto the stool, a smirk growing across his face as he sprinted brightly to the table and sank down between Ron and Hermione.

"I," he declared, grinning at Ginny who was sitting across the table from him, "am never, _ever_ , doing that again."

"Sure you aren't, mate," Ron laughed. "It's definitely our last year here."

"May I have your attention, everyone?" McGonagall was standing, a welcoming smile on her face, once they were done eating. Harry felt her eyes linger on him for a split second before they moved on to scan the rest of the Hall. "Thank you. First of all, welcome back to Hogwarts. There are quite a lot of changes that have been brought into effect this year, and they will not be subject to negotiation. The biggest change is probably the formation of an eighth year in Hogwarts, which will be somewhat flexible for the current eighth-years, but will be less so in the upcoming years. Next, the system of choosing certain electives and omitting others has now been abolished. It is mandatory for all students, from first-years to eighth-years, to study all subjects, including one newly introduced subject and others that have not been taught in a few years. Also, there are, as you have noticed Returns among the students, and there will also be Returns among the new teaching staff. Due to the resignation of several esteemed professors following the Battle of Hogwarts, the new teaching staff will be comprised mostly, if not completely, of Returns. Rest assured that they will be more than capable of teaching their subject as well as monitoring their House students. I will now introduce all the teachers to you, as well as their respective subjects."

"Arithmancy: Septima Vector!" 

"Alchemy: Lily Potter!" 

"Ancient Runes: Bathsheba Babbling!" 

"Ancient Studies: Aurora Sinistra!" 

"Apparition: Wilkins Twycross! Please note that this class is only for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-years." 

"Art: Herbert Beery!" 

"Astronomy: Firenze!" 

"Charms: Remus Lupin!" 

"Care for Magical Creatures: Rubeus Hagrid!" 

"Defense Against the Dark Arts: Sirius Black!" 

"Divination: Sybil Trelawney!" 

"Flying: Rolanda Hooch!" 

"Ghoul Studies: Cassandra Bartholomew!" 

"Herbology: Frank Longbottom!" 

"Healing Studies: Alicia Longbottom!" 

"History of Magic: Cuthbert Binns!" 

"Muggle Studies: Charity Burbage!" 

"Music: Janet Fortinbras!" 

"Potions: Severus Snape!" 

"Transfiguration: James Potter!" 

There was pin drop silence in the Great Hall following this announcement, and next to Harry, Hermione had silently done a bit of math. "Five," she whispered in his ear. "That's roughly five teachers to a House, including the Head of House. How on earth are we going to continue our Animagus practice?" 

"Room of Requirement," Harry hissed back, noticing that Sirius was watching him. Normally, it wouldn't have mattered to Harry, but he was a bit discomfited by it.

"Well, then, let's get on with the Sorting of the teachers." McGonagall sent a stern glare in the direction of her muttering staff, and they fell silent at once.

"Alicia Longbottom!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Aurora Sinistra!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Bathsheba Babbling!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Cassandra Bartholomew!"

"Slytherin!"

"Charity Burbage!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Cuthbert Binns!" 

"Ravenclaw!"

"Firenze!" 

"Ravenclaw!"

"Frank Longbottom!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Herbert Beery!"

"Slytherin!"

"James Potter!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Janet Fortinbras!"

"Slytherin!"

"Lily Potter!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Remus Lupin!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Rolanda Hooch!"

"Slytherin!"

"Rubeus Hagrid!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Septima Vector!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Severus Snape!"

"Slytherin!"

"Sirius Black!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Sybil Trelawney!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Wilkins Twycross!"

"Hufflepuff!"

Once again, pin drop silence reigned as the teachers of the same House grouped together to decide upon a Head of House. Slytherin was done abnormally quick, followed by Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and finally, Hufflepuff.

"Slytherin Head of House is Severus Snape. Ravenclaw Head of House is Lily Potter. Gryffindor Head of House is Sirius Black. And Hufflepuff Head of House is Aurora Sinistra. As for the Prefects, Head Boy, Head Girl and Quidditch Captains, I will be announcing them now, so please come up to collect your badges. There will be four Prefects in each House."

"Slytherin Prefects: Tracey Davis, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson."

"Ravenclaw Prefects: Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein."

"Hufflepuff Prefects: Cedric Diggory, Hannah Abbott, Ernest Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"Gryffindor Prefects: Ronald Weasley, Ginerva Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Kellah Haskell."

"Head Boy: Draco Malfoy, Head Girl: Hermione Granger."

"Slytherin Quidditch Captain: Roy Harper."

"Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain: Sue Li."

"Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain: Megan Jones."

"Gryffindor Quidditch Captain: Harry Potter."

"You will now be handed over your timetables for the coming year, and with that, let's see you all off to bed. Goodnight, and once again, welcome back to Hogwarts."


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't believe it," Harry grumbled. "All the people they could have chosen to be Head of House and they chose _him_."

"It's less than ideal, alright," Hermione agreed. "And putting all of us in high-responsibility positions, not to mention the simply ridiculous number of subjects we're supposed to be taking, I think McGonagall," she laughed then. "After seven years, this is what she could think up to keep us out of trouble."

"I have a feeling it isn't going to work," Ron grinned.

"That fox coming along any better?" Harry asked, as they clambered through the portrait hole, making a mental note of the password ' _memento mori_ ', and Ron shook his head dejectedly. 

"I've been growing fur randomly, if that's of any help," he sighed.

"You two!" Hermione hissed suddenly, looking pretty fierce. "Get upstairs, get changed, and meet me in the common room in half an hour. Ginny, come help me get the girls to go to bed. Ron, you're supposed to be doing it too, you know. The sooner everyone is in bed, the better."

"I'll pretend to be asleep," Harry grinned, amused. "Ron, let me know when half an hour is out."

Half an hour later, Hermione was more than just annoyed when Harry and Ron showed up fifteen minutes past the time they had agreed on, both looking equally guilty.

"Sorry," Harry said calmly, flopping into a chair. "Neville was awake and decided that tonight was a brilliant time to be starting the Spanish Inquisition."

"Okay," Hermione said, slightly mollified. "So, what do we do about Animagus training? It looks like it could storm any day soon."

"Well, so long as no one else finds out," Harry said cautiously. "I mean, McGonagall knows anyway, so do Neville and Ginny - and Luna - and I'm fine with transforming now, so it should be okay so long as you both don't stop saying that thingy daily. I mean, it'd go to waste, since you've already held that leaf in your mouth for a month and the potion is ready. We're only missing a storm here. And Ginny is waiting on you two so that she can start becoming one herself, so it would be pretty selfish to stop now."

"I guess so..." Hermione's voice faltered, setting both the boys on edge. "I don't know. Do you think we should maybe tell Sirius?"

"Not necessary in my case," Harry said immediately, leaning back in his chair, amused. "I transformed back in the train, remember? And I'm registered as it is."

"As a panther," Ron reminded him, then turned to Hermione. "It's not really necessary to register all the forms he has or anything like that, is it? That's going to be a pain."

"No, it never said anything like that," Hermione agreed. "And it really would be a pain. But honestly, do you think we should tell Sirius about us?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted, then held his hands up. "Don't look at me like that! All I'm saying is, if it's going to make you feel better, you probably should do it, but if you think it's just a precautionary measure or something - well, like I said, McGonagall knows. She's been an Animagus forever, and she's the Headmistress. I think that's enough."

"He's right," Ron said finally. "I don't know, but I don't really find the idea of telling Sirius about this even remotely entertaining. We're still not sure how Harry turns into some random creature every now and then, and I don't think we should tell him about it when we don't have any answers."

"Silver phoenix," Harry muttered, and Hermione slapped his hand, hard.

"Don't worry about it," she snapped, then grinned. "Just think about it like this. Ever since you saw Sirius at the Quidditch game, Ron kept predicting you'd die in 24 hours, but you didn't because it wasn't really a Grimm, right? It was just an Animagus. I don't think you turning into a silver phoenix has anything to do with who you are at heart."

"How far can you both actually transform?" Harry asked curiously. "I know it isn't complete and it's always weird before that, but I'm dying of curiosity over here."

Hermione closed her eyes and Ron hauled in a breath, before doing the same. Within seconds, they were both sprouting fur, but Ron didn't seem to change any further than that. On the other hand, Hermione's ears rounded and grew smaller, and her eyes grew a bit beadier. That was it, though. Harry held back, but burst out laughing, and his friends promptly came back to normal, not at all amused by his reaction. Harry struggled to sit up and apologize, but he dissolved into peals of laughter all over again.

"Shut up, Harry," Hermione said moodily, then suddenly stiffened.

"You three still up and about?" Sirius' jovial voice reached them through the portrait hole, and Harry sobered up at once.

"Y-Yeah, sorry." It was Ron who answered, though all three of them paled as they saw Remus, James and Frank following Sirius into the common room.

"It's been a while," Remus smiled, though they all noticed that his eyes had stopped on Harry. "Apparently, you were right, that d-"

They all three had gotten up when Remus continued, and Sirius noticed that Harry's hands had balled into fists at his side. Without a word, Harry turned on his heel and stormed off up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, making sure he slammed the door as hard as he could when he reached his own. Confused, the Marauders turned to Ron and Hermione.

"That- that-" Hermione couldn't find the right words; glued to the spot, her eyes darted between Sirius and Remus.

"How could you bring that up?!" Ron snapped, realizing that Hermione wasn't going to be of much help. "You don't know what it did to him, do you? Knowing that you died trying to protect him, and the last thing he ever did was blow up at you?" Both Sirius and James gasped in horror. "How could you just casually bring that up?!"

"Ron!" Hermione had snapped back to the present, and put a placating hand on Ron's arm. "Ron, stop it, you'll wake the entire Tower."

"Fine," Ron snapped. "I'm going to bed. 'Night, 'Mione." And with that, he tramped off, not even sparing a backward glance for his flummoxed girlfriend.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, swallowing her nervousness. "It- it probably isn't the best time to be talking about this. I- I'll be going up to bed as well, then. Goodnight."

Sirius and Remus stared as she all but fled up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. 

"That's not normal," Remus said, as he sank into a chair, suddenly feeling weak at the knees. "I get what you were saying earlier, Padfoot. It's just not like any of them to do that."

"What's this about Harry blowing up at you?" James asked, and Sirius' questioning look meant that Remus had no choice but to answer.

"Well, see, when Tonks got pregnant, I kind of lost it. I went berserk. At first, it was just avoiding her, but then it never left me, you know, the thought that the kid could be ... could be one too. I knew those three were hiding out, trying to complete some sort of quest that Dumbledore had left them with. So I turned up. In my head, I knew I really shouldn't be deserting Tonks, but I couldn't bring myself to stay. I reasoned that if I helped stop Voldemort with Harry, I would be protecting them both. I caught up with them, and when I asked to join them, well, Harry was against it. I ... " He looked up at James guiltily, but his friend only nodded encouragingly. "I told him it was what you would have wanted." Sirius groaned, but didn't interrupt. "And Harry said no. He said you would have wondered I wasn't sticking with them." James winced. "And I don't know, I lost it. I don't even remember what I said to him, but it turned into a duel, and Harry said that he'd rather die than let me join or something along those lines, so I just up and left."

"Bloody Merlin..." Sirius sighed. It was bad enough that Harry had grown up with those wretched Muggles, not to mention have Sirius die on him after only a few brief meetings, but to actually fall out that badly with Remus and never get the chance to make up with him before Remus died on him as well, that was beyond just bad. 

"You know," James said quietly. "Maybe H-" He stopped when Sirius raised a hand in warning, frowning at the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories. "Sirius?" 

"He's gone." Sirius took off up the stairs to Harry's dormitory, with James and Remus close on his heels. When they arrived, it was far too late. Harry was nowhere in sight.

"Ron should know." James didn't hesitate to act on Remus' suggestion, but it revealed another empty bed. They heard footsteps approaching, accompanied by laughter.

"You'll get in trouble for this, young man." Sirius knew the voice was familiar, but he couldn't immediately place it. Remus frowned.

"It's fine, I'm probably already in trouble, Andy," Harry laughed, before the mirth in his voice faded. "How is Tonks?"

"She is healing pretty well, she should be home in a week or so," Andromeda replied, as they all recognized the voice of the Metamorphagus' mother. "Are you sure it's going to be alright, though? Keeping him with you when you were rebuilding the castle is one thing, dear, but to be doing it during the school year-"

"It's the first day back," Harry laughed once again, but only Sirius could tell that it wasn't completely genuine. "And I'm sure McGonagall isn't going to mind at all."

"Is she still your Head of House?" Andromeda asked curiously, and Harry didn't reply.

"No," Ron said finally, seeing as his best friend wasn't going to say it himself. "She's Headmistress, it would be pretty unfair if she remained out Head of House as well."

"So who is?" Andromeda continued. James and Remus felt their stomachs drop, and Sirius' fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"Sirius," Ron supplied, since Harry had quite pointedly stopped replying.

"He could have at least sent a letter," Andromeda huffed. "Is there anyone else I should be knowing about?"

"Remus is back too," Harry supplied quietly, making Ron snort, and Andromeda laughed.

"I know that, you silly," she grinned, and Remus backed away slightly as the three shadows came into view. "He did visit every so often, after all, to see Teddy."

Ron muttered something indistinct, and Harry made no comment, as they entered the dormitory.

Remus, Sirius and James all took a step back as Andromeda, Harry and Ron came to a halt in front of them. Harry had a small boy in his arms, with tufts of violet hair, who was currently asleep.

"Hello Remus, Sirius." Andromeda was oblivious to the tension in the room, as she swept forward to hug her cousin. "You must be James Potter. I don't believe we've met?"

"Hi, yeah, I don't think so," James smiled disarmingly, but his eyes were fixed on the toddler in his son's arms.

"I'm Andromeda Tonks, Sirius' cousin," she said, with a warm smile, and then laughed. "Nymphadora's mother, Teddy's grandmother."

"Technically," Sirius grinned, trying desperately to alleviate the tension. "She's trying to say that she's Moony's mother-in-law." 

Harry rolled his eyes, but Ron's lips twitched slightly. Andromeda swatted playfully at Sirius, mock-glaring at him as he dodged the well-meant blow. Remus flushed.

"Nice to meet you," James grinned, deciding that he rather liked her. "You actually come off as familiar, I'm just not completely sure from where, though."

Andromeda's smile faded, as did Sirius'. Harry winced. "Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange are my sisters."

James turned ashen as he struggled to find the right words to apologize. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean - "

"It's alright," Andromeda said, waving off his apology, now looking quite amused. "Like father, like son, I suppose. Harry very nearly flew for my throat the first time we met!"

"You looked a lot more like Bellatrix back then," Harry muttered, blushing furiously. "Plus, we'd just been attacked by Voldemort, what was I _supposed_ to think?"

"It's fine, sweetheart." Andromeda turned her back on the Marauders, walking back to the stairs. "I should be going, I promised Nymphadora that I would spend the night with her. She's asked about Teddy a couple of times, but she doesn't seem to be up to meeting him quite yet. I'll be back around half past six to get him."

"Thanks, Andy." With Andromeda gone, the two teenagers turned back to face the Marauder trio, albeit a lot more warily.

"I think I'm still missing out on something here," James ventured tentatively. "Okay, so Teddy is Remus' son..."

"He's my godson," Harry explained, and understanding dawned in both James' and Sirius' eyes. 

"Wait," Sirius said, suddenly frowning. "Okay, I know it's not something any of us want to talk about, but it's got to be done. Harry, if tyke's asleep, could you put him down and get over here for a few minutes? There's just some things we want to get straight with you. Ron's welcome to stay, too."

"As far as talking is concerned," Ron muttered, "we should probably get Hermione too."

"No," Sirius said firmly, though his tone was apologetic. "I don't mind if you get mad, rant, or hex us. I want to hear this from you, and if Hermione's around, she's going to do all the talking, while you two silently plot how best to murder someone or something. That defeats the purpose."

"Fine." Neither Harry nor Ron seemed too pleased with the arrangement, but they were going to put up with it for now.

Harry went over to his four-poster, from which Remus backed up all the way to the bed across the room, and put down his sleeping godson. With a soft sigh, he sat on the edge of the bed, turning to the three Marauders, who all seemed to get the hint and conjured chairs of their preference. Ron flopped down next to Harry.

"Well, first off..." Sirius' eyes flit between Harry and Remus once, before they settled on Harry. "Remus made you godfather?"

Harry nodded cautiously, with a quick, indescribable glance thrown towards the man in question.

"Was this after or before your argument?" James asked quietly, observing both his friend and his son thoughtfully.

"After," Harry and Remus answered together, and Harry quickly fell silent, fidgeting to avoid Sirius' stare.

"From what Remus told us," Sirius continued slowly, "it was a pretty bad falling out. And we weren't under the impression that you talked it over after that."

"They didn't," Ron said resignedly. "It was just pretty fucked up at that point. Our family was hiding out at Shell Cottage - Bill and Fleur's house - until they could safely be moved to my great aunt Muriel's. Around the same time, Dobby managed to save us three - as well as Griphook and Luna Lovegood - from Malfoy Manor, and transported us to Shell Cottage. We were there for less than a week, but well, Professor Lupin came by one day to announce Teddy's birth and in the same breath asked if Harry'd be godfather."

"And you agreed." Sirius wasn't questioning, he was making a statement, almost as if it were a talisman, and once again, Harry nodded silently.

"How come?" James asked finally, running one hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, but I honestly don't understand. If you both blew up at each other and the next time you see each other you're asked to be godfather, and you just agree? I mean, I get that it was a difficult time, but surely - surely you wouldn't do it out of -"

"No," Harry cut him off, and James smiled almost gratefully at him, until he noticed Harry's expression. "I didn't do it because I pitied him, or there was no other choice or anything like that. At that moment, I didn't have anything against it, it just seemed the right thing to do to accept, that's all. We didn't ever get to talk about it. The mood was downright glum when he walked in to announce Teddy's birth, and I think we all were just overly enthusiastic about the first _good_ news we'd heard in forever, that's all."

"Yeah, I get that." James turned to Sirius, but the canine Animagus did not bother with elaborating further on his comment. "But it's because you two haven't got that talk out of the way that there's so much tension between us right now, it's almost palpable."

"That's not true-" Ron began heatedly, only to be interrupted.

" _Talk_?" Harry asked incredulously, looking Sirius dead in the eye, his face completely expressionless. "What's there to talk about? I mean - if you're expecting a - I don't know, an apology or something like that, then sorry, but it isn't going to happen." 

"There's nothing wrong with apologizing," James said quietly. "Sometimes you're neither right nor wrong. Moony was only trying to help you out, and no, he shouldn't have done it the way he did at first, but that's a mistake anyone could make."

"I won't apologize for making him stay with his kid," Harry said quietly, but his tone was dangerous, one that made a chill run down Sirius' spine.

" _You_ didn't 'make me stay with them'," Remus retorted, no doubt infuriated, and Sirius sighed. This wasn't going to end well. "If you really should know, Dora came looking for me later, and that's when I returned to her. It was about a couple of months before she delivered. Don't think that turning me down changed my mind as well."

"And if I hadn't turned you down?" Harry challenged, and James groaned. His son was every bit as much a spitfire as his mother was. "If I hadn't turned you down, and Tonks came looking for you while we were in the middle of trying to get a Horcrux destroyed, getting caught by the Snatchers, being imprisoned in Malfoy Manor, breaking into Gringotts, or destroying half of the castle to blow apart one Horcrux, what would you have done then?"

It was a trap to make him say it out loud, one that both Sirius and James both ardently hoped that Remus wouldn't take the bait for. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be the case.

"You're saying that I would have _left_?" Remus asked furiously, his voice quiet but deadly. "You think I would have betrayed you like that?!"

"I don't know," Harry said indifferently, green eyes still spitting even if his voice wasn't. "Someone who could consider abandoning his wife and unborn kid shouldn't find it too hard to leave on us - considering we were of age, and fully capable of protecting ourselves, so yeah, I damn well think that you would have left."

"And you wouldn't have?!" Remus snapped. James and Sirius hurriedly cast Silencing Charms over the rest of the beds. "You always stick your nose in too far to get it back out, never do stay put, leave when you're supposed stay, and then lounge around when you're expected to be doing something! You know what, you were right, it probably was a heat of the moment decision - making you godfather when you were far more liable to chase after something reckless than be bothered with keeping him safe!"

"REMUS!" James and Sirius had both leaped to their feet, but so had Ron.

"You only make mistakes, apparently, Professor," the young Weasley said coldly. "Just out of curiosity, who would you have picked otherwise, after proper deliberation?"

"James." Remus didn't even miss a heartbeat as he turned on his friend. "You - you'll accept, right?"

"I - I-" James couldn't find his tongue, his eyes darting over Remus, Teddy and Harry, but Harry stood up just then.

"It's fine," he said, sparing one of those clogged, indescribable looks for his father. "I forfeit. Congratulations." But his words were empty.

"You _will_ accept, right, Prongs?" Remus' tone hadn't softened one bit, but the amber eyes searching his own were filled with apprehension.

"Alright then." James couldn't find a single ounce of happiness in him, his eyes fixed on his newly appointed godson. "I accept."

"Would it be too much to ask for you to keep him with you tonight?" Harry asked, pointedly ignoring Remus and Sirius. "I wouldn't have minded otherwise, but I'm dead tired, and seeing as Remus doesn't seem to think I am up to the task of looking after a child, surely he wouldn't mind you doing it, since he just named you godfather?"

It was as if Remus had only just comprehended what had happened. He turned white, but couldn't find it in himself to say anything. It was too late.

"No, it's fine." James stepped forward hesitantly, and both the teens backed off slightly, watching in silence as the older man picked up the infant. "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight," Harry and Ron said together, their eyes turning back to the two Marauders who remained, almost daring them to speak.

"Harry, I -" Remus couldn't go on.

"Save it," Harry spat, and Sirius noticed that even though they weren't filling up, Harry's emerald eyes were brighter, blazing. "I _don't_ care, either way."

"Harry," Sirius said softly, gaining his godson's attention. "Let's just leave it at this for tonight, yeah? I don't think we'll work things out for the better by talking about it right now, and I'm sure we all could use a good night's sleep. Alright?"

"Yeah." Sirius could read both relief and gratitude in Harry's voice and eyes, and derived some meager measure of satisfaction from it.

"Goodnight, Harry, Ron." Sirius draped one arm around Remus and headed off towards the stairs.

"Goodnight, Sirius." He acknowledged the greeting with a smile over his shoulder, and then the two Marauders were gone. 

Harry and Ron fell onto their respective beds, but only Ron fell asleep. Harry stayed awake, staring at the crimson canopy of the velvety four-poster bed, and found that it was far too overwhelming to simply lie there doing nothing, so he turned over on his stomach, reached into his trunk, and fished out  _Adler's Addling Potions_. He had nothing better to do anyway, and he did find the book interesting, so he figured that he might as well as try and do something more productive than stare at the blood-colored canopy.

It didn't take him long to finish the book, though, and he found that by the end of it, he was thoroughly bored. Sighing, he turned over, catching sight of the Invisibility Cloak peeking out over a corner of his trunk. For some reason, the glittering fabric seemed to annoy him even further, and he kicked it all the way to the back of his trunk, turning its contents up side down in the process. Huffing, he decided that no good would come out of destroying his belongings - and half the dorm with it - he transformed, making sure to check in the mirror that it really was a panther before padding downstairs and making his way out of the castle.

He didn't notice Sirius, who had been lying on the windowsill, lost in thought until he heard the soft sound of something coming down the stairs. Sirius had turned even before Harry came into the common room, large green eyes wounded and gleaming, and he remained quiet until Harry clambered out of the portrait hole, before transforming into Padfoot and following his godson, albeit at a safe distance. He knew that Harry had to be hurting, but he had learned quickly enough that Harry wasn't the same as before. Much as he hated to admit it, his godson had become a lot less trusting, and altogether too good at masking his emotions. The very thought made him shudder.

Harry wandered down to a cozy spot of tall shrubs right next to the Black Lake, curling up into a ball among the plants. Sirius' heart leaped into his mouth. He wasn't so stupid that he couldn't figure out that Harry had been having trouble sleeping - which, after a war, was pretty normal, in his opinion - but he had no idea that it was this bad. Harry wasn't even remaining in his human form, not to mention, he was also taking the trouble of getting away from any sort of human company. It made Sirius ache. He couldn't possibly leave his godson like that - when all was said and done, he did have only one godson - so he made his way over to the now sleeping large black cat.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry woke up when something large pressed its muzzle gently against his cheek, opening his eyes blearily to find a pair of storm-blue eyes looking down at him. Within seconds, he had struggled to get to his feet, but the wolfhound was prepared for such a move, and firmly pushed him back. Having no other choice, Harry transformed back, not entirely surprised when Sirius followed suit, so that they were both now sitting up in the thick shrubs.

"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked defiantly, but his tone was weary, and Sirius suspected that he hadn't slept properly in longer than he was letting on.

"I believe that's my line," Sirius said easily, as he held out a hand to Harry. "Come on, it's a lot firmer up here, and the breeze is better."

Cautiously, Harry took his hand, allowing Sirius to pull him down by his side, but his eyes never left Sirius, emerald orbs tense, calculating.

"So?" Sirius turned to Harry. "You going to tell me what you're doing out here that you can't do in the dorm?"

"Can't stay as a panther in the dorm," Harry sighed, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them. "I mean, what if one of the others saw?"

"Why would you want to do that, though?" Sirius asked, as he tentatively put an arm around his godson, ignoring Harry's stiffening at the gesture.

"It's just." Harry sneaked a glance at his godfather, who was clearly hanging onto his every word. "I don't know. I think too much altogether when I'm human, and in the end, I'm not able to sleep. Or I sleep and wake up twenty times in a couple of hours. It leaves me more tired than I was before, sort of. And it's so much easier to just transform."

"I get where you're coming from," Sirius said softly. "But that doesn't mean it's right. It still unsettles me not to transform, but you've got to endure it sometimes. If you keep on transforming, you won't be able to stop. It's like an addiction that only ever gets worse. You've got to will yourself to sleep, as a human, no matter how many times you wake. The nightmares can't haunt you forever, no matter how much it seems like that at the moment."

"How'd you do it?" Harry asked curiously, dropping his guard slightly, relishing the way this conversation felt so right somehow. 

"Back then-" Sirius hesitated for a moment, but Harry looked up at him, and he sighed. "Back then, Moony came over a lot, and he wasn't too pleased with the way I was. We used to talk late into the night, and I started falling asleep, even without transforming. Sure, at first, I'd wake up every few minutes, but being the lighter sleeper, Moony was also just as awake as I was, and wouldn't hear a word of me transforming or going without sleep. And in the long run, it blew over. Around six months in total, but I did sleep in between too. It's just that it did take a long time for me to go back to sleeping normally, like I did before."

"Mm." Harry didn't want to acknowledge exactly how close to home Sirius' words were hitting, but his noncommittal response was more than enough for Sirius to understand.

"Shall we go back to the castle, Harry?" Sirius asked quietly after a long while, hoping that his words had had some sort of effect on his godson.

"...Okay." Sirius positively glowed as he helped Harry to his feet, and they both dusted themselves off. It was then that Sirius noticed. "You've gotten taller."

"What?" Harry glanced down at his feet, then at his godfather, who was admittedly not as much taller than Harry as he had been when he died. "No way."

"Just don't get any taller than me," Sirius grinned, and Harry laughed then. He had missed this, missed talking without hiding, he had missed just _being_ with Sirius.

"I'll try," he smirked, and Sirius cuffed him over the head lightly. They began to walk back, and somewhere along the way, Harry had slipped one hand into Sirius'. Sirius noticed the gesture, but Harry's gaze seemed to be fixed on his feet, so he didn't comment, but his hand closed protectively over Harry's anyway.

Once they entered the Great Hall, though, Sirius did not head for the Gryffindor Tower, but instead made his way towards the classrooms, thoroughly confusing Harry. "Where are we going?" he asked, not bothering to pull away, though Sirius was careful enough not to completely close his grip over his godson's hand.

"My quarters," Sirius replied simply. "I would have gone up to the dorm, but honestly, I don't fancy being found in your bed by your roommates."

That was a valid point, Harry had to admit, and one that had completely passed him by. He said nothing until they reached Sirius' quarters, which could be accessed only through the tall bookcase at the very back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, which was dark enough that Harry couldn't make out much.

Sirius flicked his wand at the bookcase, which instantly opened to reveal simply furnished, yet still comfortable chambers. Harry entered, noticing that the bed was almost exactly like the one in his dormitory, except that it was a bit shorter, and quite a lot wider. The room was furnished with a spacious maple-wood study area, a mahogany dresser and matching wardrobe, a chest by the foot of the bed, and a pair of bedside drawers, each of which had a large magically lit lamp sitting on it. There was, of course, a bathroom attached, but otherwise, it looked like a standard room to Harry, and nothing like what he had expected Sirius' room to look like. Belatedly, Harry noticed his attire.

"Uh, Sirius?" The older man turned to look at him questioningly. "I- I haven't changed yet."

Sirius grinned and flicked his wand once again. "You really should learn a couple of common Transfiguration spells, you know. They don't exactly teach it at school."

Harry huffed slightly, and upon closer inspection of his new nightclothes, realized that Sirius had made them completely black with red buttons. It was comforting to think that his godfather didn't really think that he was a bright, bouncy Gryffindor like all the others. 

"You going to get into bed or not?" Sirius asked, and Harry looked up to find that while he had been fidgeting, Sirius had also changed into nightclothes.

"I am," Harry muttered, flushing, all of a sudden shy as he slunk into bed, very much aware that Sirius was right next to him. The entire idea suddenly seemed downright stupid.

"It's okay," Sirius murmured, almost as if he'd read Harry's mind. "It's awkward, sure. You don't need to say anything if you don't want to though, just try and relax. But if you do want to talk about something, I'm all ears." 

For a long moment, Harry debated on whether to actually act upon the advice or not. Just when Sirius had unhappily concluded that he wasn't going to say anything, Harry spoke. "What would you have done?"

"Done?" Sirius stared blankly at Harry for a second, and then it struck him. "I don't know, Harry. I probably wouldn't have let him join either. I might have let him join, too."

"But it felt wrong," Harry stated softly. "It didn't feel like I was even talking to Remus. It was like this stranger who could actually give up on his wife and unborn child came up to me. I didn't think that Remus would actually be able to say or do something like that."

"He wasn't thinking straight, pup," Sirius said gently. "You know how he is about the ... that. I can easily imagine him having an aneurysm about how the child might have his genes, that he might have done something horrible - because I already saw it, Harry. James and I - we saw him before he became the man he was, when he was just a kid who was scared of everyone, kept away from everyone and didn't believe that he would ever have friends. So, I can easily relate to him having that kind of a breakdown." 

"It's still not right," Harry insisted unhappily, and then turned around in the bed to face Sirius. "Would Dad have let him join?"

At the door, both James and Remus froze.

"...I don't know, pup," Sirius said finally, though he had a pretty good guess. "I don't think so. You two are far too alike in some ways, it creeps even me out. I'll tell you this, though. I don't think, even if either of us did let him join, we wouldn't have let him abandon Tonks and Teddy. I can promise you that much, at least."

"He was pretty mad," Harry admitted. "I don't know how, but I remember being pretty mad too. Ron gets so touchy about it now, but back then, he wasn't. Nor was Hermione. It's like they thought it all through only after it was all done with."

"Moony just gets like that whenever it comes to anything that has to do with that," Sirius said simply. "He probably never expected you to turn him down."

"I never expected him to do something so cowardly," Harry said quietly. "I don't know. Remus just seemed like a person who'd stick it out, even if things got tough. It felt like he was betraying me, for some reason, and maybe that's why I don't know. I lashed out for no good reason."

Remus swallowed a lump, and James suddenly found a loose thread on his robe immensely fascinating. 

"He's not a coward," Sirius said reassuringly. "But you can't deny that everyone ends up being a git at one point or the other, and that's just what would tick him off."

"Mm." That was a pretty good answer, or at least, one that could satisfy all parties. "But still, what would you have done?"

"I'd tell you that you weren't getting any sleep," Sirius barked a laugh, but it was mirthless. "So? Care to tell me how long you've been dodging around your sleep?"

"I dunno exactly," Harry yawned. "It feels like its been forever, though. Maybe ever since I could see the Thestrals."

"Ever since Cedric died?!" Sirius all but gaped at his godson in horror. "Harry, that's -"

"No," Harry interrupted quickly, with a small frown. "I didn't see the Thestrals until the beginning of my sixth year."

"That's still two years," Sirius said, not in the least bit mollified. "And it's way too long to be messing around with your sleep schedule."

"I know," Harry said. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose."

They both fell silent - Sirius was digesting this revelation, while Harry had gone back to thinking about a topic that had intrigued him for a long time now: why he hadn't seen the Thestrals after Cedric's death, but he had seen them after Sirius'. Thinking never brought forth any answers, though, and Harry found that no matter how hard he thought about it, his mind seemed to come back to the fact that Sirius was alive and right next to him. The thought was accompanied by an indescribable sense of security, and before long, Harry felt his eyelids drooping. He resisted the urge to force them open, and instead let them close, with a soft sigh, hoping that he wouldn't be haunted by the nightmares again.

After a long while, Remus felt sure that Harry must have fallen asleep, and knocked softly on the door. Sirius sat up, ramrod straight all of a sudden. "Come in."

"Padfoot," James said quietly, glancing uncertainly at his son. "Did something happen?"

"He hasn't been sleeping right," Sirius said simply, suddenly feeling fiercely overprotective of his godson. "What's up, Prongs? You don't look too good."

"It's Lily," James sighed, sitting at the foot of the bed and running one hand wildly through his hair. 

"Lily?" Any thoughts of sleep quickly fled Sirius' mind. "What's wrong with Lily?"

"She's pregnant, Padfoot," James blurted out, looking guilty and confused and excited all at once.

"She's _what_?!" Sirius very nearly yelled. He couldn't believe this.

"I- She only told me today," James said, this time shoving both his hands into his already messy hair. "She's one month pregnant already."

"Due in May," Remus added quietly, guilt lacing his voice. "She thinks it's going to be in the last week of May."

"Merlin," Sirius groaned, then looked at them both queerly. "That's not all, is it?"

"I- uh- I- listen, Pads, I-" James truly looked like he'd gotten a knot in his tongue.

"Prongs, just spit it out, you're scaring me now," Sirius said, still too absorbed by the fact that Lily was pregnant to put up with his best friend's posturing.

"He asked me to be godfather," Remus mumbled, and at that, Sirius' head shot up.

"Okay," he said slowly, looking from one to the other. "That's a really cool idea, now we can all be godfathers." His tone was deadly.

"Look, Sirius, I'm sorry," Remus pleaded. "I shouldn't have blown up then, but I did, and I have no idea whatsoever on how to fix this situation."

"You could start with getting your priorities straight and set in place," Sirius said calmly. "And once you're done, let me know if Harry is even on your list."

"Of course he-"

"No, Moony, I meant I want to know where on your list he turns up," Sirius interrupted, before throwing a glance at his pseudo-brother. "That goes for you too, Prongs."

"Lily and Harry are both top priority for me right now," James said firmly. "It's never been any different for me, and it won't change."

"Then why in the name of Merlin's bloody balls are you having another kid at this point in time?!" Sirius snapped, before lowering his voice with a glance at Harry.

"I- come off it, Padfoot, it was one time," James groaned. "How was I supposed to know she'd get pregnant, anyway? It wasn't planned or anything."

"And you're going to let her teach, I assume?" Sirius asked, wondering if Harry was really asleep. He hadn't stirred, but he could be faking it.

"I did try to dissuade her," James sighed. "But she said she can and will be teaching all the until the end of the year, and take a break for the baby's birth."

"Dora said she wouldn't mind babysitting," Remus muttered, but it was clear that he was still uncomfortable with the idea. After all, Teddy wasn't even a year old yet.

"I honestly have nothing to say to this," Sirius grumbled. "Don't look at me like that. Nothing's happening to the kid on my watch. But this really is a lot less than ideal."

"I know," James sighed. "Lily said the same thing. She hasn't even gotten to meet Harry yet, and now it's just... I don't know. I feel like it's just too messed up."

"It is messed up," Sirius agreed. "But there's nothing you can do about it now."

"Sirius," Remus spoke up, looking as though he'd much rather kiss a Dementor. "I need you to talk to Harry for me."

"Not happening," Sirius refused flatly. "That's something _you both_ have to be talking about to resolve, and I'm _not_ going to play messenger owl for either of you."

"He's right," James said quietly, looking at the werewolf. "I know it's not something to look forward to, but it has to be done. The sooner, the better."

"And for now," Sirius put in, quite fed up of both his best friends at the moment, "will you both _please_ get out because I, for one, want to get a couple of hours of sleep."

Both Remus and James immediately got up, mumbling incoherent 'goodnight's as they closed the door behind them. No sooner had the lock fallen in place than Sirius turned to find Harry sitting up in bed, looking both lost and guilty at the same time.

"It's fine," Sirius said, not wanting to know, but curious all the same. "How long have you been awake?"

"Almost immediately after they came, I guess," Harry said quietly, averting his gaze to his fidgeting fingers.

"No nightmares, then?" Sirius inquired, but he was almost completely sure of the answer.

"No," Harry agreed, managing a small smile.

"Looks like congratulations are in order," Sirius said. There was no point beating around the bush anyway.

"I guess," Harry said, still looking slightly dumbstruck. "What's it like to have a sibling who's younger than you by eighteen years?"

"I don't know, stinker," Sirius laughed. "I only ever had one younger sibling, and he was only a year or so younger than me."

"D'you think maybe..." Harry trailed off, uncertain about how to frame his question.

"Maybe?" Sirius prodded gently, but it was clear that he wouldn't push the matter too far.

"Maybe Mum wanted a kid- a younger kid?" Harry blurted out, before instinctively edging further under the duvet, but Sirius was having none of that, and pulled him back up.

"Your mother would never not want you, pup," Sirius said, reading between the lines quite clearly, but with a pang that Harry was so uncertain of himself.

"Yeah but..." Harry looked thoroughly downcast, and Sirius sighed.

"I think you're reading too much into it." At least, he hoped that it wasn't anything more than that. "James and Lily love you, Harry, there can be no question as to how much they love you. They wouldn't dream of replacing you, ever. All you have to be worried about is how to corrupt your kid sibling without your mother finding out."

"No way," Harry laughed, as he leaned back, head resting lightly, almost tentatively, against Sirius' shoulder. "We're gonna be almost nineteen years apart."

"So what?" Sirius asked, with a hint of a challenge in his voice. "How far apart do you think Bill and Ginny are?"

"Bill and Ginny have _five_ siblings between them," Harry protested. "And Ron is only a year older than Ginny anyway."

"True," Sirius laughed. "But that still doesn't mean that your parents are going to love you any less."

"Mm." Not knowing how to react to that particular bit of information, Harry closed his eyes, trying to imagine what life would have been like if he'd gotten to live with Sirius, like his parents had wanted and not with the wretched Dursleys. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep once again.

Sirius had taken his time formulating a long, carefully worded opinion about how Harry could use this opportunity to talk to Remus about everything, but when he turned to look at his godson, he found him asleep, and smiled, despite everything that had happened. He was glad that Harry trusted him enough after everything he had been through.


End file.
